With startling, boundless creativity, Roxy Music's juiced-up debut record put a subversive spin on mid-'70s conventions, embracing glam-pop and artsy electronics while harboring a deep love of classic rock songcraft. Brian Eno's stamp is all over the record, driving songs like "Re-Make/Re-Model" down strange, atonal avenues. Bryan Ferry's nightclub glamour-boy persona and wandering vibratos help make timeless epics out of molehills like the (originally non-album) track "Virginia Plain." Eno stuck around for one more record, 1973's For Your Pleasure, leaving Ferry and the band to embrace their less avant-garde leanings. This unpredictable, dangerous record might be a shock for those who associate Roxy Music with the silky sounds of later records such as Flesh + Blood and Avalon. It is nevertheless essential listening for all who care about boundary-defining rock, as well as the possibilities for profound innovation and redefinition that artists like David Bowie, T. Rex, and the New York Dolls promised, but never quite delivered. --Matthew Cooke
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